WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has selected former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel as his next defense secretary, a White House official said Sunday, turning to a prominent Republican to lead the Pentagon as it faces the challenge of winding down the war in Afghanistan and possible reductions in military spending.

But the nomination, which the White House official said would occur Monday, has already encountered stiff opposition from Republicans and Democrats alike because of Hagel’s views on Israel and Iran and his comments about an ambassador who was gay.

Republicans, in particular, have raised objections to statements by Hagel that they have described as dismissive of Israel and soft on Iran. Hagel once described pro-Israel lobbying groups as the “Jewish lobby.” He has insisted that he is a strong supporter of Israel.

Speaking on Sunday talk shows, several Republican senators indicated that a stormy confirmation process was all but inevitable.

“His views with regard to Israel, for example, and Iran and all the other positions that he’s taken over the years will be very much a matter of discussion in the confirmation process,” Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the Republican leader in the Senate, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

McConnell said he had not decided whether he would support Hagel. “I think there will be a lot of tough questions for Sen. Hagel, but he will be treated fairly by Republicans in the Senate,” McConnell said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Sunday that he liked Hagel but that he was “out of the mainstream of thinking on most issues regarding foreign policy.”

“This is an in-your-face nomination of the president to all of us who are supportive of Israel,” Graham said on CNN. “I don’t know what his management experience is regarding the Pentagon — little, if any — so I think it’s an extremely controversial choice.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who said Obama was being overly dismissive of criticism about Hagel.

“I think this is a president right now who has drunk the tea,” Cruz said on “Fox News Sunday.” “He is feeling very good about himself; he is feeling like there can be no opposition to his position. And so, it doesn’t seem — he doesn’t seem terribly concerned that there’s not a lot of support for Chuck Hagel in the Senate.”

Cruz said he would probably vote against Hagel’s confirmation.

Hagel, 66, has also received criticism for opposing several bills to impose unilateral sanctions on Iran. His supporters point out that he has backed several rounds of sanctions aimed at preventing Iranian weapons proliferation. He also supported the Iran Freedom Support Act in 2006, which, in addition to imposing sanctions, provided funding for human- rights and pro-democracy groups in the country.

Coming confirmation battles for Hagel and other Cabinet appointees will likely open a new schism between the White House and Congress.

Fierce Republican resistance has already derailed the candidacy of one Cabinet nominee. Susan Rice, the ambassador to the United Nations, withdrew her name from consideration for secretary of state after lawmakers threatened to disrupt her nomination over statements made about the death of the U.S. ambassador in Benghazi, Libya.

“This kind of fight is the fight that the people of this country get so frustrated about and with,” Heitkamp said. “Let Chuck Hagel get nominated, if he’s going to be nominated, and let’s hear what the senator has to say.”

Hagel’s candidacy has also raised questions among some liberal groups because of a statement he made 14 years ago about President Bill Clinton’s nominee for ambassador to Luxembourg, James Hormel. Hormel, he said, was not qualified because he was “openly, aggressively gay.” Hagel has since apologized.

Obama has praised Hagel, a decorated Vietnam veteran, as a “patriot,” saying nothing in his record would prevent him from serving as defense secretary.

He spent 12 years in the Senate, retiring in 2009 after serving on the Foreign Relations Committee. As senator, he called for trimming the defense budgets and often expressed skepticism about involving U.S. troops in extended missions abroad, particularly without international support.

Though he voted for the resolution allowing President George W. Bush to take military action in Iraq, he was among the most outspoken Republican critics of the war.

In 2004, he declared that he had “no confidence” in Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s leadership, and he later joined Democrats in opposing Bush’s plan to send more troops to Iraq.

Whatever the criticism of Hagel’s views on Israel, perhaps his most pressing concern if confirmed as defense secretary will be the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. This week, Obama is expected to meet with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan to discuss the withdrawal set to begin in 2014.

Hagel has indicated that he would be comfortable with quickly drawing down the remaining 66,000 service members as Pentagon officials say the White House desires.

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